Evening Star
by Michelle Birkby
Summary: After Hoshi hears Malcolm described T'Pol as the most beautiful woman on the ship in Crossing, Trip and Hoshi have a discussion about who is really the lovliest woman on Enterprise.


TITLE; Evening Star  
  
AUTHOR; Michelle Birkby  
  
CATEGORY; Romance. Tu/S  
  
SPOILERS; The Crossing.  
  
SUMMARY; Trip explains to Hoshi why T'Pol is seen as the most beautiful woman aboard ship..and discovers something in the meantime.  
  
"And then.." Trip chuckled, enjoying his friend's discomfiture enormously, "You called her the most attractive women on the ship!"  
  
"I may have done." Malcolm admitted sheepishly. "But in my defence, I was possessed at the time. How did you find out all this anyway?"  
  
"Engineer's secrets." Trip insisted, keeping to himself the Captain's indignant conversation with Trip the next day. "So, do you think she's the most beautiful woman on this ship?"  
  
"Well, I know damn well you do!" Malcolm snapped, as both of them became aware that there was someone standing opposite them, someone who'd probably heard every word they'd said.  
  
"Gentlemen, is this seat taken?" Hoshi asked sweetly. Malcolm gagged on his tea, as Trip politely gestured to the seat opposite him.  
  
"So, Commander Reed, you do think T'Pol is the most attractive woman on this ship?" she asked pleasantly.  
  
"Ah..well..you see...I..I..have weapons to calibrate" he spluttered, and left at a run, leaving Hoshi and Trip giggling like schoolchildren. Trip watched him go, then turned to Hoshi, who was concentrating on her fajita.  
  
He'd been laughing on Malcolm's discomfiture, but he felt a bit of sympathy for the guy. It was kinda embarrassing to be praising one woman to the skies when another was listening. Trip was old-fashioned that way. He liked to treat every woman like she was the most special, most wonderful, most beautiful woman in the world...and he was slightly worried they'd upset Hoshi.  
  
"Ah, Hoshi." He said, anxiously. She looked up, questioning. "What we were saying about T'Pol...well, you know we didn't mean that you...I mean.." he trailed off as Hoshi smiled.  
  
"It's alright." She said. "I know she's far more beautiful then I am."  
  
"Now, wait, I didn't say that..." Trip interrupted her, but she held her hand up to stop him and continued.  
  
"I have seen the way you all looked at her when she came aboard the ship. You were all like a bunch of teenagers who'd never seen a woman before. And I've seen the way you all follow her around, like puppies following a favourite toy." Trip winced. He had had no idea that they had been that transparent. "And she is beautiful and exotic and....alien. I know you all think she's the most attractive woman aboard ship." She said without a trace of self-pity. "And to be honest, I'd rather you all drooled on her rather than me. I'd hate to be seen as just a sexbomb in a catsuit." She finished, smiling wickedly. "She's welcome to the puppy dogs."  
  
She returned to carefully folding her tortilla's. Trip watched her, silently and a little stunned. He'd just had a mirror held up to himself, and he wasn't sure he'd liked what he'd seen. Was that really how they all behaved? Were they as bad as all that? Had he really drooled over T'Pol? He felt just a little ashamed...and more than a little embarrassed.  
  
And as he watched Hoshi carefully arrange her fajita, he realised something else too.  
  
"She is lovely." He said slowly, and Hoshi looked up, picking up her fajita and biting into it. "I mean..look, I'm not good with poetry, but she's like the sunrise. Calm and lovely and revealing, and all that."  
  
Hoshi nodded, put down her fajita and wiped her mouth carefully.  
  
"But, once you've seen the sunrise more than a few times, you get used to it." He said, watching Hoshi carefully. She looked up, into his eyes. "It gets kinda dull after you've seen it fifty or so times. Then, all it becomes is just the sunrise, time to get out of bed, and start the days chores, and some days, you hardly want to see it all, you just...."  
  
"Want to stay in bed?" Hoshi asked. Trip nodded, earnestly. He ought to have felt silly, talking like this to her. God knows if he started talking like this to T'Pol..but he would never talk like this to her. He didn't have anything like this to say to T'Pol.  
  
"I prefer the sunset." Trip said softly, leaning over the table a little. She leaned in towards him. "The day's work is done, you can just sit back and relax. And its always different. Some nights it's wild and crazy, and some nights its soft and slow, and then it slips away, and you see the most beautiful thing in the sky."  
  
Hoshi leaned in a little closer, so close her breath was soft on his cheek, and he stared back into her eyes, caught in her, knowing he should stop, but unable to pull away.  
  
"The evening star." He whispered. "That's the most beautiful sight in any sky."  
  
"Oh." She whispered, and Trip wasn't sure if she understood...or even if he understood. He only knew that suddenly, there was a lot more he wanted to say to her... but he had no words to say it with.  
  
"Hoshi.." he started to say....but he was interrupted.  
  
"Is this seat taken?" a cool voice inquired. Hoshi and Trip looked up.  
  
"Of course not, Sub-commander T'Pol." Hoshi answered, although she sounded a little breathless. "Please, join us."  
  
Trip sat back with a sigh. There they sat, opposite him, the sunrise, and his evening star. And now he could really see it.  
  
The evening star had a smaller light, but was far lovelier than the sunrise. 


End file.
